Is there any truth that there's a bitter rivalry between Square Enix icons Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura? Is this the reason why they're supposedly working on separate Final Fantasy Versus XIII games? What does he think of former boss Hironobu Sakaguchi's work with the Final Fantasy franchise? All the answers in the full article.

Last week, we had a mammoth of a game release with Devil May Cry 4. It's not going to be any different this time around, with the much-awaited Lost Odyssey by Mistwalker finally making its US debut. Other noteworthy games in this batch are Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts, RPG Maker VX, and a slew of other titles. Hit the full article for the rest of the list.

* Article originally posted Feb 11, 2008 at 01:12AM

Nobuo Uematsu's record label Dog Ear Records just announced that The Black Mages' third album is finally nearing its release. The Japanese band led by the man behind Final Fantasy melodies we all grew to love is going to unleash The Black Mages 3: Darkness and Starlight, which will contain more than remixes of magical FF music. Learn more by checking out the full article.

After last week's new releases, it doesn't come as a surprise when Media Create's latest software sales chart for December 3 to December 9 is almost dominated by previously released titles. Some newcomers such as Tales of Innocence and Lost Odyssey, however, fought for the top ten and came close to claiming Wii Fit 's throne.

Find out what's hot in Japan by checking out the full article!

While Microsoft is readying up a media barrage for North America to promote Bungie's Halo 3 game (Xbox 360), it looks like Japan's populace may not be quite as receptive. Famitsu's latest "Most Wanted" polls of the region indicate that the game is gone from the poll's top 20 list, being overrun by Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends for the PlayStation 2.

Games making another appearance in the list include White Knight Story and The Last Remnant (PS3, Xbox 360). And in case you're wondering, the lists' top five stalwarts are still there, solidly rooted to their current places - at least until more developments arise.

1. Dragon Quest IX (NDS, Square Enix)
2. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Square Enix)
3. Biohazard 5 (PS3, Capcom)
4. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3, Konami)
5. Monster Hunter 3 (PS3, Capcom)
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, Nintendo)
7. Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360, Microsoft)
8. Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII (PSP, Square Enix)
9. Devil May Cry 4 (PS3, Capcom)
10. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo)  
11. The Last Remnant (PS3, Xbox 360; Square Enix)
12. Animal Crossing (Wii, Nintendo)
13. Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3, Square Enix)
14. Final Fantasy IV (NDS, Square Enix)
15. Ash (DS, Mistwalker)
    
16. Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (PS2, Koei)
17. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii, Capcom)
18. White Knight Story (PS3, Sony)
19. Gran Turismo 5 (PS3, Sony)
20. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (NDS, Level 5)
    

The battle has come a long way. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft fought valiantly to invade Japanese households. Numbers for May are finally here, and Ninty dominates across the board.

Bloomberg reports that the Wii outsold the PlayStation 3 five to one. 251,794 more units have been sold to further increase Nintendo's market share. In the handhelds race, the DS took the lead with 620,670 - 123,673 against PSP.

With limited third-party support, Microsoft's hefty Xbox 360 sold only 11,082. Will Mistwalker titles win the hearts of Japanese gamers? It doesn't look like Halo 3 is enough to be a driving force, even if it's expected to bring Microsoft's gaming division its first profitable quarter ever.

As if its huge lead wasn't enough, Nintendo believes that their Wii will reach thrice the households at the end of this fiscal year. Some believe that a number of PS3 games will "murder" the Wii, Microsoft is deadset on spreading its influence in the Land of the Rising Sun - will tides change? Time will tell.